[Artchic528]

I am a huge fan of dolls. I love everything about them. So naturally, I'm customizing my first. I've never been completely happy with the way my Rapunzel doll came in box. Seeing as she is one of my favorite Disney Princesses, I just HAD to do something about that.

The particular doll I bought was sold in the Disney theme Parks, and is commonly referred to as the old Disney Park's Rapunzel. She came with ultra long hair that had strands of translucent tinsel, to give the effect of it glowing like it did in the movie. I love this version of the doll for her hair, but the body had to go as it didn't have nearly the amount of articulation I wanted. So I swapped out the old, partially articulated body it came with for the highly articulated Made to Move Barbie body from Mattel. This body has a whopping 22 points of articulation, making it super posable. This will make for a huge variety of super realistic poses that Rapunzel can do, and seeing as she isn't a Princess that sits around waiting for Prince Charming, err make that Eugene Fitzherbert, to do all the work, this new body fits her very well. It'll also make for awesome photo opportunities too.

Swapping out barely articulated default doll bodies for a Made to Move body has become so commonplace now, mostly because the Made to Move Barbie dolls are super affordable at $16 a doll. Compare that to the more expensive alternatives with a bit less articulation at $30-$40 and up for just the body (heads are extra). That and the Made to Move body is, by far, one of the most articulated doll bodies on the market. So, yeah, it's no wonder they are the go to for a lot of doll artists.

There is one problem with swapping out bodies though. When I swapped out the default body for the Made to Move one, Rapunzel's head was very floppy on the neck. This was because the hole at the bottom of her head was larger than the swiveling plastic piece in the neck of the Made to Move body. I popped it back off and used a rubber band to add a tiny bit of girth to the neck piece and now Rapunzel doesn't look like she's got a broken neck anymore.

Speaking of Rapunzel's head, a major complaint about this particular model is that she doesn't have any discernable eyelashes painted on. The lack of eyelashes makes her look rather like a boy with exceptionally long hair, at leas that's the major complaint. Not that there's anything wrong with guys having super long hair, or female dolls with no eyelashes, it's just that I prefer the look of her having them. She just doesn't look right to me without them.

I could paint some lashes on, but that's pretty tricky and once you've made a mistake, you can't really go back from that. So, I am doing an alternative to painted on lashes, glued on eyelashes. It's pretty simple to do. You just buy a cheap pair of false eyelashes (the kind of people) and cut them down to scale for your doll. Plus, some eyelash kits even come with glue to use so you don't have to go around looking for extra glue. I think Rapunzel will look fabulous with false eyelashes glued on.

Once she's done, I'll take some pictures and show you all. Like I said, she's my first custom, so I didn't go too terribly crazy with the customizing. I didn't want to get carried away, and don't really feel comfortable painting on a whole new face.

[bearguardian]

Dolls are like a first step in our desire to create a robot, or some more advanced AI...

I have barbie dolls that have been around since my childhood but Im not really happy with their appearance. Will have to look for something better, maybe something gothic...

Congrats on your doll customizing. I'm a doll artist and have been making and customizing dolls since the 90's. I absolutely adore dolls and customizing and nothing better than articulated dolls too. I look forward to seeing your picture.

[Artchic528]

Well, my very own OOAK Rapunzel is finished. I took her outside for better lighting and whatnot when I took her pictures, seeing as it was a nice overcast day and all (that way shadows aren't really a huge factor). I felt a tad bit silly walking around with a 12 inch play doll outside, but eh, I really didn't care if it was silly. A lot of people do that sort of thing.

Anyways, I had trouble applying the eyelashes with the glue provided so I went straight for the superglue. Much better and faster drying. The lashes aren't exactly perfect, but it's just my first attempt at it, so I'm not going to be too terribly hard on myself. At any rate, here she is next to some salvia that I thought matched her dress.

[henchman21]

Nice work

[Nammu]

That's a great job, the eyelashes look great.

She turned out lovely artchick. Well done!

There is a repaint of the Disney Belle doll that looks exactly like Emma Watson in Beauty and the Beast. It's so impressive. I wish I could share pics here....it's the best repaint I've ever seen.

[Artchic528]

Originally Posted by ElsaMars

She turned out lovely artchick. Well done!

There is a repaint of the Disney Belle doll that looks exactly like Emma Watson in Beauty and the Beast. It's so impressive. I wish I could share pics here....it's the best repaint I've ever seen.

Sounds a lot better than Disney's attempt on capturing Emma Watson's likeness in doll form for the live action dolls. The dolls wound up looking remarkably like Justin Bieber instead, if he had tons of freckles an his face was always shiny. At least that's the consensus from the public anyways, and I tend to agree.

I'll google around and see if I can't find the OOAK doll your talking about.

EDIT: Do you mean this doll?